For Ellen Bennett, founding father of the kitchenware brand Hedley and Bennett, food is a lifelong love. “I’m half Mexican, half English, so I grew up with a very unusual combination of eating tamales, caldo de pollo and things that are very Mexican, as well as shepherd’s pie and tea with my English grandfather,” she says Entrepreneur.
But before Bennett began an apron company named after her English and Mexican families, she attended culinary school in Mexico City, where it was cheaper than in the US. To support herself there, she worked as a model and did translation work before returning to Los Angeles, where she was raised, to work in the city’s best restaurants.
Photo credit: Shayan Asgharnia. EllenBennett.
“I always put one foot in front of the other towards the thing I want to do. “I never stop and stare for too long because then I’ll get scared and I won’t do it,” says Bennett. “That’s why I’m always on the move. And I feel that’s one of my positive traits: I don’t analyze – I just do it.
In 2012, at the age of 24, Bennett was doing a lot: she worked as a line cook at Providence, which boasts a two-star Michelin rating, and at Bäco Mercat, earning $22 an hour for both jobs. In the mornings she also worked as a personal chef for the family. “It worked around the clock,” he recalls, adding that 14-hour days were the norm in the industry.
“If I can [equivalent] a uniform piece of dignity [and] roll [that] into this world of cooking, maybe I will change this entire industry.”
Despite the “hustle and bustle” of on a regular basis life, Bennett got here up with a great concept that served as a “fun transition” from her life as a “hardcore cook” to the “other life” she led – in Mexico City, she often wore suits to work events, and as an avid runner with marathons under her belt, she knew a thing or two about sportswear that will arise to the rigors of this sport.
“So I put those two things together in my head,” says Bennett, “and I believed, Man, if I can do it [equivalent] a uniform piece of dignity [and] roll [that] into this world of cooking, possibly I’ll change this complete industry. Because they’re giving us their asses. We work so hard [and] everyone looks like shit.“
A few weeks later, the chef of one of the restaurants where Bennett worked presented her with an excellent opportunity to begin a side job. He said he would order aprons for everyone, and Bennett, who was continually pondering about chef’s aprons and various features of the uniform, “blamed like Ellen Bennett” that he had an apron company.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Hedley & Bennett.
Of course, Bennett wasn’t running any business at the time, but she said she was working on an idea — “and by working, I meant it was in my head,” she admits. Still, she managed to persuade the chef to position an order for 40 aprons and, through “absolutely nothing but willpower and chutzpah,” she “started the whole damn thing.” Bennett showed up wherever she could find chefs who is likely to be interested in her aprons, from farmers markets to Eater events in Los Angeles.
“I would walk up to people and just say, ‘Hey, I’m a chef in Providence. I work there and have a company that makes aprons. Can I show you what I’m working on?’” says Bennett. “So a lot of it was out of humility, but I was also shameless when talking to anyone. And I’ve never hid behind a computer waiting for someone to email me. I just stood in front of you and if you had ears, I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh my God, Japanese denim? Great. American canvas? Hell yes.”
Bennett had no sewing experience, but she had at all times loved design, so at first her process “was really jaunty.” She sat down with chefs and listened to their pain points (which she knew all too well as an industry professional), analyzing the smallest but important details that were so often ignored in the apron game – like the durability of the material.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Hedley & Bennett.
Bennett quickly began “elevating the quality of the basic materials,” much like a Michelin-starred restaurant raises the bar on food. “We’re still just selling food,” explains Bennett, “but it’s the best fish you’ve ever eaten in the world because we sourced it from the best place. So I applied the same logic.” Bennett’s aprons became an quick hit.
“These chefs have really gone crazy,” says Bennett. “They say, ‘Oh my God, Japanese denim? Great. American canvas? Hell yes.” And then instead of using plastic parts, I thought: “What if we use brass elements?” And they said, “Yeah, I like that.” So I basically just cooperated and listened.”
Hedley & Bennett is an eight-figure brand, and if you have watched any cooking or cooking show, you have little doubt seen it in motion: 70% of chefs on the Food Network wear Hedley & Bennett aprons, and almost every chef who appears Supreme boss AND Bear Data provided by the brand shows that he also wears them. Hedley & Bennett also boasts collaborations with The Beatles, NASA and Crocs, among others, and has since expanded into general kitchenware, including knives, potholders and more.
“Even if you raise $50 million, you still have to build a community to get customers.”
While Bennett’s idea for an apron immediately appealed to other chefs and has seen tremendous growth over the past decade, she emphasizes that Hedley & Bennett was not an overnight success – and that, realistically, no such thing exists.
The brand didn’t have any external investments. Instead, she grew Hedley & Bennett “the old-fashioned way”, reinvesting every penny into the business, building brick by brick, street by street and customer by customer, ensuring the mandatory brand loyalty around the world. way. Bennett notes that the people she initially sold her aprons to stay customers: “There’s a love you can’t buy with an Instagram ad.”
“Even if you raise $50 million, you still have to build a community to get customers,” says Bennett. “You happen to have more money in the bank. Do you want to come and talk to people? Do you want to listen to them, adapt your product to them and what they actually need? Everyone goes through the same struggles. how many resources you can devote to it. And because I had limited resources, I became much more creative than if I had all the money in the world.”
Moreover, Hedley & Bennett’s initial business-to-business (B2B) model meant a “slow and steady” approach that benefited from “brutally honest chefs” who didn’t mince their words when it got here to informing Bennett about what is and what is not. does not work. The feedback was invaluable, but despite an influx of requests for additional products, Hedley & Bennett remained “very focused” on developing the perfect customizable apron — until the pandemic hit. We need to really create a systematic, streamlined menu to equip these restaurants in a way that permits it to scaleBennett realized.
That’s why Hedley & Bennett took a direct-to-consumer approach. In one month, the brand went from shipping all the pieces internally to shipping through third-party logistics (3PL). “It wasn’t clean or smooth or anything like that,” says Bennett. “It was the right decision for the company and the whole world couldn’t meet in person. So I thought, ‘What’s the fastest way to get this online?'”
Based on this, Bennett took into account all the feedback received and considered which products to pursue next. “We thought, ‘Okay, what’s the natural extension of the aprons that’s necessary because we don’t like to make tchotchkes,’” Bennett recalled. “Our goal is the longevity and quality of the things you need, not just a lemon squeezer, which is fine, but you can also squeeze a lemon with your hands.” This led the brand to knives.
Photo credit: Shelby Moore.
“There’s nothing wrong with taking longer to build something great.”
Hedley & Bennett’s journey has been long and filled with “little peaks and valleys” that have generally been an upward trend, but because she is “a very action-oriented person,” Bennett says she rarely reflects on what she hasn’t done along the way.
Still, at first, Bennett wished she had taken a step back and appreciated herself and her contributions in the same way other people did. “I don’t mean it’s ego-driven,” he says. “It’s not about pondering that I’m the coolest, that I’m the best, but just respecting yourself for the work that you have done and saying, ‘I didn’t just build a table, I built a chair to sit down on at the table. I did it.
Image credit: Evan Robinson.
And her best advice for other entrepreneurs who wish to turn their big idea from a side hustle into a multi-million dollar brand?
“I’m a big believer in the long game,” he says. “You can start something at home with no money and have a profitable, profitable business that you will be the majority owner of many years later. And that’s amazing. There’s nothing wrong with taking longer to build something great. I know all our Life is focused on the speed and speed of development of things [becoming] a unicorn, but you can also be a long-playing unicorn.”
This WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS® this text is a part of our ongoing series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.